PIEOUS (if you dont know what pious means, please look it up) came to me as a stroke of genius....or at least I thought the name was. Devotion to Pizza and sourcing/growing all the ingredients as well as the other handmade items we will sell will be our mission. Think of all the great tshirt slogans and signs i can make. or even the special, "Tonight's Devotion: Craig's meyer lemon pizza"

It's going to be an eclectic space and since I am not going for VPN or solely to have a pizzeria, we're going to also make fresh fruit pies, cream pies, dairy fresh ice creams, incredible sandwiches on house smoked meats and house baked naturally risen sourdough, fresh salads, beer and wine (both from keg!), a morning espresso/coffee program with fresh baked pastries, of course we plan on pulling our fresh mozz too.

I envision a creamy vanilla icecream, served with an excellent olive oil drizzle and a little nice salt...big as your face caramel rolls served with your coffee in the morning....pizza's so good that you'll want to eat them everyday!

I really don't care how hard i am going to have to work to get it up and running and to keep it running....because it's my passion. I like serving people the food that i like to eat and i like to see their reactions. It's almost more enjoyable to me. But I do like to eat the food i make. I'm so damn picky that if i can make food that pleases me, i believe that i will be able to please the community that i am serving.

Can't thank this community enough for being here.

Sounds like an awesome menu! Post up some pictures when you get to that point. Thanks!

I stopped by your place yesterday, no one home. It was around lunch time though. Looks like a good spot.

Ah %$#, sorry i missed you. Still playing around with designing the space and getting all the I's dotted and T's crossed, but yes, it's going to be great spot. Got the 60 day TABC sign in place!

I'm going to try to have a "chefs garden" in front as you drive up, where the red tip photinias are planted. I really like the way a little cutting garden looks and hopefully will be able to provide some fresh cut ingredients. The Nomad guys in Philly do a great garden and use everything they grow.

give me some warning and i'll look forward to meeting you...

could use some advice...I've got a bunch of ugly, yellow, grease stained FRP panels that i need to do something with. Wondering if i have to pull them down or can i simply add tile right over them...

I'm going to try to have a "chefs garden" in front as you drive up, where the red tip photinias are planted. I really like the way a little cutting garden looks and hopefully will be able to provide some fresh cut ingredients....

Two quick thoughts. I love the idea of the chefs garden in the front and I would do it. BUT, I would never use anything out of the garden for the restaurant. Anybody could tamper with the plants without your knowledge. They could take a leak on them for all you know...

There is an Italian painter semi- near you, if you have a place for a mural. Jay at Cane Rosso used this guy in Deep Ellum. Third picture down. Just sayin'.....

I've thought of that, the tampering...but i think i have a solution....A. the area i am in is pretty "country charming" not to say that someone couldnt do it, but i doubt they would.B. Access will be limited by a fence (a nice looking one)C. I will wash everything i harvest....

But i am not talking about lots of stuff, maybe a selection of nice herbs, garlic tops, etc....

Craig, yes, for sure....I'm just a bit tainted i guess, every time someone mentions Stefano Ferrara all i see is that gold encrusted(tiled) oven that Donatella put in her restaurant. You need a good oven....but it's only a piece of the puzzle.

The oven is important only to the extent that it will provide the temperature range you require for your desired style of pizza. My Uncle for example uses a gas assist WFO in his Italian restaurant, but he does not do Neapolitan, he does Roman style flavored by his experience owning mid 70s Pizza Inns. Thin and crispy with fresh ingredients and bright sauce. He normally runs it at 450 degrees. Some might see that as a waste (like me), but he is perfectly satisfied with the pizza he makes, and I have to admit is very good. Note that he has an Italian restaurant that has pizza as a menu item.

Craig, yes, for sure....I'm just a bit tainted i guess, every time someone mentions Stefano Ferrara all i see is that gold encrusted(tiled) oven that Donatella put in her restaurant. You need a good oven....but it's only a piece of the puzzle.

A oven certainly doesn't need to be gold encrusted. I have it on good authority that you can make a pretty good pie in a plain white oven with lots of dings and cracks...

« Last Edit: June 10, 2012, 06:06:37 PM by TXCraig1 »

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"We make great pizza, with sourdough when we can, commercial yeast when we must, but always great pizza."Craig's Neapolitan Garage

The oven is important only to the extent that it will provide the temperature range you require for your desired style of pizza.

I used to think that too, but it is not that simple. For certain styles anyway, the balance of conductive, convective, and radiant heat is very important. This is a function of oven design, not just an ability to achieve a given temperature.

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"We make great pizza, with sourdough when we can, commercial yeast when we must, but always great pizza."Craig's Neapolitan Garage

Pizza doesn't care where the heat comes from. It is only crucial for one style of pizza, Neapolitan, which requires extremely high and balanced heat. For the rest of the wide range of pizza styles, it can be managed with what you have.

Having a knowledgeable pizza making is always very important. For a commercial operation it's also important to have all the right equipment and the most important one is the oven. If you want to do high quantities and not have to struggle to bake more than 2 pizzas at a time because your worried about the other not baking properly then the right oven is of utmost importance.

The only two people on here who have had both a cast refractory oven and a Neapolitan low dome oven is Jay Jerrier and Matthew. I don't want to speck for them but I guarantee you they wouldn't be able to do the volumes they are doing now in they're Neapolitan low dome ovens with such ease as they would be in another cast refractory.

Pizza doesn't care where the heat comes from. It is only crucial for one style of pizza, Neapolitan, which requires extremely high and balanced heat. For the rest of the wide range of pizza styles, it can be managed with what you have.

No? Then why use a stone? Pizza does care where the heat comes from - just in some styles (NP and the like) it matters a lot more. I agree that you can manage the heat to get good results in many circumstances. If the goal is a great NP or similar style however, I'm simply suggesting that managing your way around a compremise oven may not be the best way to go. I guess I thought we were talking about NP because of all the SF discussion.

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"We make great pizza, with sourdough when we can, commercial yeast when we must, but always great pizza."Craig's Neapolitan Garage